Brussels, 29/01/2013 (Agence Europe) -Representatives of the European Parliament (EP) and the EU Council of Ministers are continuing to discuss the draft legislation to introduce a eurozone bank supervision mechanism under the aegis of the European Central Bank (ECB), but no real progress was made at the most recent three-way meeting on Monday 28 January, suggesting that the scheduled introduction of the measures in March 2013 may have to be postponed. The next three-way talks will take place in Strasbourg on Wednesday 6 February.
The negotiations touched on the question of voting rights on the Supervisory Committee to be set up at the ECB to hive off supervision from monetary policy. The EP questions the wisdom of the agreement at the December 2012 ECOFIN Council that the Supervisory Committee will use a double voting system - mostly voting by a simple majority, apart from decisions with a wider impact, when a qualified majority vote would apply (see EUROPE 10751). This was chosen to placate Austria and Luxembourg, which were threatening to veto the rules if unanimous voting were required.
Another subject of debate at the Monday meeting was the extra resources the ECB will need to do its new work. The EP wants a mention to be made in the new legislation that the ECB has to be given sufficient resources, but the Irish Presidency took a cautious line, stressing the ECB's independence in this domain. (MB/transl.fl)